California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a package of artificial intelligence workplace laws in Sacramento on September 30, requiring human oversight of decisions to fire or discipline employees and adding protections against surveillance. The measures also require employers to disclose when AI or other automated technology causes a mass layoff, relocation or closure, according to the governor's office and the Associated Press.
Senate Bill 947 bars employers from relying solely on an automated decision system to dismiss or discipline a worker. When such a system helps make that decision, a person must review and verify it, and the employer must tell the affected worker that the system was used. State Senator Jerry McNerney, who sponsored the measure, said California's labor commissioner, attorney general and local prosecutors can enforce it.
A separate measure, Senate Bill 951, adds information about technological displacement to notices for qualifying mass layoffs, relocations and terminations. Assembly Bill 1883 restricts AI-powered workplace tools that collect neural data or infer a worker's emotional state, while Assembly Bill 1331 restricts surveillance in workplace bathrooms. The governor listed the four bills among the measures he signed Wednesday.
The California Federation of Labor Unions backed the workplace bills. Its president, Lorena Gonzalez, said workers had demanded rules that keep people involved in decisions and limit monitoring at work. Newsom said the technology should create opportunity without sacrificing workers and families. Those positions reflect supporters' stated reasons for the legislation, rather than a finding that the new rules have already changed workplace practices.
The signing adds to California's broader AI framework, which includes recently approved independent assessments of advanced systems, according to the governor's office. Newsom also signed an executive order directing state agencies to keep using the term artificial intelligence. AP reported that he left open the possibility of a special legislative session for further AI measures. Employers and state enforcement agencies now face the task of putting the newly signed workplace provisions into practice.
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